JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. -Photo hobbyists and professionals alike congregated in the pre-dawn hours of May 4 for a rare opportunity to capture photographs at two sites inside Arlington National Cemetery.
More than 100 photographers set up tripods and calculated shutter speeds at their choice of two spots - the hill in front of Arlington House or at the Tomb of the Unknowns for the chance to view and visually chronicle the 6:07 a.m. sunrise.
The mass picture-taking session was held in conjunction with Flickr's 10th anniversary observation.
"This is an opportunity I've been looking forward to," said Tami Stieger, an amateur photographer from Woodbridge, Va. Stieger's mission that Sunday morning from atop the hill overlooking the Kennedy graves was to show Arlington in its tranquil glory.
"As a photographer, I want to show this place as a place of peace, and I just want to show the honor," Stieger said.
Most of the photographers were put into a quandary choosing which site to shoot the sunrise, which turned out to be literally picture perfect.
"I thought this higher vantage point would make for a better picture," said Eric Ottinger, who described himself as a "very amateur photographer." "The Tomb of the Unknowns is a terrific venue for photography, but for this time of day, I chose the hill to take that sunrise picture."
Stieger's goals for capturing her images were two-fold. She also mentioned that her sacrifice of rising early to get a unique opportunity to photograph ANC can never compare to the sacrifices made by service members buried there.
"I want people to feel that they were right here with me, and I want them to remember why we are here and what Arlington National Cemetery is all about and all the sacrifices that were made," Stieger said.
It was the first-ever sunrise photography photo walk held in the cemetery.
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